Methods and systems for object detection

Abstract

A computer implemented method for object detection includes the following steps carried out by computer hardware components: acquiring an image; determining a pixel of the image as a base pixel; determining coordinates of a plurality of sets of target pixels, each set of target pixels including a plurality of pixels in a respective pre-determined relationship to the base pixel; for each of the sets of target pixels, determining information representing values of the pixels in the respective set of target pixels; and determining whether a pre-determined object is shown in the image based on the determined information.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer implemented method for object detection, the method comprising:
 acquiring, by computer hardware components, an image by determining a crop to an input image around an area of high intensity determined in the input image; 
 determining a pixel of the image as a base pixel; 
 determining coordinates of a plurality of sets of target pixels, each set of target pixels comprising a plurality of pixels in a respective pre-determined relationship to the base pixel; 
 for each of the sets of target pixels, determining information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels; and 
 determining whether a pre-determined object is shown in the image based on the determined information. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the pre-determined object is shown in the image based on the determined information using an artificial neural network. 
     
     
       3. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the pre-determined object comprises a headlight of a vehicle; or 
 wherein the pre-determined object comprises a traffic sign. 
 
     
     
       4. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein each set of target pixels comprises pixels along a line through the base pixel in the image. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein respective lines of the plurality of sets of target pixels have pairwise different directions. 
     
     
       6. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises the values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels. 
     
     
       7. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises binarized values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels. 
     
     
       8. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises information of pixels along a pre-determined order of the pixels until a first pixel with a pre-determined property is present. 
     
     
       9. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises information of pixels having a pre-determined property. 
     
     
       10. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises an indicator for each of the pixels indicating whether that respective pixel has a pre-determined property. 
     
     
       11. A system, the system comprising:
 a computer system having a plurality of computer hardware components configured to:
 determine a pixel of an image as a base pixel; 
 determine coordinates of a plurality of sets of target pixels, each set of target pixels comprising a plurality of pixels in a respective pre-determined relationship to the base pixel; 
 for each of the sets of target pixels, determine information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels to include information of pixels along a pre-determined order of the pixels until a first pixel with a pre-determined property is present; and 
 determine whether a pre-determined object is shown in the image based on the determined information. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a vehicle, the vehicle comprising:
 the computer system; and 
 a camera configured to acquire the image. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , the vehicle further comprising:
 at least one headlight; and 
 a control system configured to control the at least one headlight based on whether a headlight of another vehicle is shown in the image acquired by the camera. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the computer hardware components are further configured to acquire the image by determining a crop to an input image around an area of high intensity determined in the input image. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, configure computer hardware components of a computer system to:
 acquire an image by determining a crop to an input image around an area of high intensity determined in the input image; 
 determine a pixel of the image as a base pixel; 
 determine coordinates of a plurality of sets of target pixels, each set of target pixels comprising a plurality of pixels in a respective pre-determined relationship to the base pixel; 
 for each of the sets of target pixels, determine information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels; and 
 determine whether a pre-determined object is shown in the image based on the determined information. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed, configure the computer hardware components to determine whether the pre-determined object is shown in the image based on the determined information using an artificial neural network. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 ,
 wherein the pre-determined object comprises a headlight of a vehicle; or 
 wherein the pre-determined object comprises a traffic sign. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein at least one of:
 each set of target pixels comprises pixels along a line through the base pixel in the image; or 
 respective lines of the plurality of sets of target pixels have pairwise different directions. 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises at least one of:
 the values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels; 
 binarized values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels; 
 information of pixels having a pre-determined property; or 
 an indicator for each of the pixels indicating whether that respective pixel has the pre-determined property. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the information representing values of the pixels in that respective set of target pixels comprises information of pixels along a pre-determined order of the pixels until a first pixel with a pre-determined property is present.